Surgery for Olsen

United midfielder Ben Olsen will have surgery on both ankles Monday in Baltimore to clean up the bone spurs that troubled him all season. Ben tells me he will be relegated to the couch for a couple weeks. "I'll be watching re-runs of Good Times and Wonder Years," he revealed. He also wanted me to solicit good viewing suggestions from Insider loyalists. Let me know in the comments section below and I'll pass 'em along to our gimpy friend.

In other MLS news, New England's Michael Parkhurst was named defender of the year, Kansas City's Eddie Johnson comeback player of the year and Brian Hall referee of the year. Voting was done by media, players, coaches and GMs; referees also contributed to the officiating award.

In case you've lost track (and surely you have), here is the list of every New York coach since 1996:

Tell Ben that, on any given channel at any given time of the day, there is bound to be re-runs of Saved by the Bell! OR He could be like a former college roomate of mine and turn on SportsCenter at 7 a.m. and proceed to watch every episode until 1 p.m.

Eddie Johnson? What exactly did he come back from? That is total b@llsh!t.

A guy coming back from a blownout knee or injury should be where the spirit of this award lies.

To award a guy for sucking for a year, then returning to form, is ludicrous.

For Benny, I recommend a new show: "Last One Standing" on the Discovery channel. Basically a group of American and British athletes go overseas to compete in traditional tribal fighting competitions. A great show!

Or, It Always Sunny in Philadelphia...give Benny some PA-flavored laughs.

Steve, tell Ben to get the box set of "Coupling," the BBC version of the show (NOT the American copy which was atrocious). Megan will love it, too. Worth every penny and one of the funniest sitcoms ever... way better than Seinfeld. It takes one or two episodes to get the hang of the accent, but it's well-worth the effort.

A great book that once he gets into he won't be able to stop reading (to the point that Megan will kick his ankles) is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. The quasi-sequel just came out so the original book should be easy to find now. If he can't find it, I'll lend him my hard cover copy.

Californication on Showtime
Entourage on HBO
Two and a Half men on CBS
Lost - if you can get into that kind of thing.
Band of Brothers - amazing stuff, just amazing.
For an interesting novel, try Engleby by Sebastian Faulks. Very interesting look at people, philosophy, psychology, obsession and lots of other gems.

Mad Men
Human Weapon
Robot Chicken
Battle Star Galatica
City of God
Shaolin Soccer
The Boondocks
Hot Fuzz
36th Chanber of the Shaolin
Infernal Affairs
Catch a Fire
Lost Boys of Sudan
District B-13
Murderball
Once in a Life Time (NY Cosmos)

DC Utd just informed its season ticket holders of the oft-rescheduled Meet the Team event.

They care so much about the fans that they gave us 72 hours notice, setting it for Thursday night.

Garbage.

After stringing us along all season, they pull this. It was always a favorite day for my kids and traditionally held on a weekend. Of course now, it essentially ensures we can't go. It is one thing to move heaven and earth to get to a mid-week game, for 90+ minutes of pain or pleasure at RFK, but for to honor or waiting in line for an hour for 45 seconds of signatures from guys who folded when it mattered?!?

I can add that to my list of DCU gripes, which keeps getting longer...

I add to the chorus of praise for THE WIRE, probably the best tv series ever. Homicide: Life on the Street is pretty great too, especially the first 3-4 seasons.

I'm a little saddened that there's only one other mention here for (the current) BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, which is an underappreciated, amazing achievement for its treatment of war, politics, religion, and the meaning of humanity. It shouldn't be confused with its cheesy-ass 1970s predecessor.

Oh, and for comedy I'd go with Curb Your Enthusiasm and the BBC version of The Office.

Props to Soy United and "Tony Lumarzi" for actually suggesting books. Sitcoms rot the body, mind, and soul.

I'd recommend he pick a country and start reading some contemporary authors. I just finished Chile -- Pablo Neruda, Isabel Allende, Gabriela Mistral, Jorge Teillier and Nicanor Parra are a good place to start.

He needs an eclectic mix of reading, films and series. DVD's of 24, the British version of The Office, and the ubiquitous PeeWee's Playhouse. The first version of The In-Laws will offer amusement ("serpentine, serpentine"), while Lawrence of Arabia offers intensity. On novels, Ben might check out some of Ian McEwan's works (Saturday, Atonement, Amsterdam) and of course Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch. Get well Ben!